Women Still Lose, Even If They Win

Gender equality in the workplace is the talk of many professors, economists and feminist activists. In a recent article published in the New York times, Harvard Professor of economics Sendhil Mullainathan stated that “[women’s] hard-won successes are taxed in ways that men’s are not”. The tax in question is not the fee elevated by the government or any higher institution to pay its expenses and offer services to the population, it is a burden released upon women in high positions.

According to a recent Swedish study by Olle Folke, All the Single Ladies: Job Promotions and the Durability of Marriage, victory for political candidates in elections increase divorce rates for female candidates but not for male candidates. A similar pattern follows in the corporate world. Female chief executives divorce at a higher rate than their male counterparts. Women in the entertainment industry face the same issues. As stated in a study conducted in 2011, The Oscar Curse: Status Dynamics and Gender Differences in Marital Survival , winning “best actress” is a one-way ticket to a divorce but winning “best actor” is not.

Mr. Mullainathan argues that women are expected to earn less than men but when the opposite occurs, not only does that higher-earning women face more house chores, but she is more prone to divorces. “We no longer live in a society where men are the sole breadwinners. But we do apparently live in one where the man should win more bread”, Mullainathan states.

Even if wage equality is achieved, there are underlying social and psychological effects on women that need to see a change as well. Prominent female workers, leaders and candidates shall not turn down success in the workplace because they are threatened with failure in other aspects of their daily lives.